TSJC formally charges Mas, Ortega, and Rigau for 9N

Judge in charge of inquiry will be Joan Manel Abril, designated as speaker for the first complaint, filed by Manos Limpias.

LAURA DÍAZ-ROIG Barcelona
2 min
Artur Mas vota / PERE VIRGILI

On Monday the majority of the judges of the civil and criminal section of the Catalan Superior Court of Justice (TSJC) decided to admit for further processing the complaints and charges related to "the alleged disobedience of the November 4th decision of the Constitutional Court", which suspended the alternative consultation of 9N, and all "directly or indirectly" related acts.

The high court will investigate, therefore, the criminal charges pressed against the president of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, the vice-president of the Govern, Joana Ortega, and the Minister of Education, Irene Rigau, for the organization of the participatory process on 9N.

However, the complaints and charges against Núria de Gispert, president of the Parliament, members of the Parliamentary board Anna Simó, Lluís Corominas, Josep Rull, and David Companyon, Minister of the Interior Ramon Espadaler, government spokesman Francesc Homs, and MP Oriol Junqueras were dismissed.

All of the lawsuits and complaints will be grouped together in the same proceeding, which will be the earliest filed. Therefore, the magistrate in charge of the inquiry will be Joan Manel Abril, who had been designated speaker for the lawsuit filed by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), which was the first one filed.

The members of the TSJC, consisting of Miguel Ángel Gimeno, president, and five judges (Enric Anglada, Maria Eugènia Alegret, José Francisco Valls, Josep Manuel Anglada and Carlos Ramos) deliberated for almost five hours. The normal procedure for admitting a complaint for hearing is to use a panel of three magistrates, but due to the importance of this case, it was decided to call a full session.

Mas on the meeting of the TSJC: "I don’t understand the decisions of the judiciary, but I fully respect them."

Artur Mas, president of the Generalitat, believes that "it is not understandable" that he is being brought before the court for having brought out the ballot boxes and allowing the people to vote, although he "fully" respects the decisions of the Catalan Superior Court of Justice (TSJC). The president made a joke about the meeting of the TSJC during an open-air event in Sitges, in a cold town square where the sun wasn’t shining: "If anyone gets a chill, it’s not my fault. I say this because almost everything is my fault, but you can’t pin this on me".

Mas made these statements before knowing the court’s decision. The full session of the civil and criminal chamber of the TSJC decided by majority vote to admit for processing the complaints and charges connected to "the alleged disobedience of the November 4th resolution of the Constitutional Court" and all "directly or indirectly" related acts.

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